The Fifth Major,
The Players Championship
By:
Fred Altvater
The 42
nd
edition of The Players Championship
will be contested May 12-15. It is annually
held at one of the most difficult golf courses in
the world, the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass
and boasts a stronger field than any major
championship, but is not considered a major
by golf’s criteria.
Before professional golf became the standard
by which the world’s best golfers judged
their game, the majors consisted of the U.S.
Open, U.S. Amateur, British Open and British
Amateur. Those are the four events Bobby Jones
won in 1930 to capture his “Grand Slam.”
Over the years the world’s top amateurs
have found it more lucrative to try their
hand at professional golf. Thus the world’s
major tournaments are now all professional
events, The Masters, U.S. Open, The Open
Championship and the PGA Championship.
There is one more event that annually receives
the moniker as the game’s ’Fifth Major,’ The
Players Championship.
The Players Championship field consists of
144 golfers from the following criteria:
1. Winners of PGA Tour events since last
Players
2. Top 125 from previous season’s FedEx
Cup points list
3. Top 125 from current season - Medical
Extension
4. Major champions from the past five years
5. Players Championship winners from the
past five years
6. The Tour Championship winners from the
past three years
7. World Golf Championship winners from
the past three years
8. Memorial Tournament and Arnold Palmer
Invitational winners since 2015
9. Top 50 from the Official World Golf
Ranking
10. Senior Players champion from prior year
11.
Web.comTour money leader from prior
season
12. Money leader during the
Web.comTour
Finals, if not the regular-season money
leader
13. Top 10 current year FedEx Cup points
leaders
14. Remaining positions and alternates filled
through current year FedEx Cup standings
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